WHAT DO YOUR KIDS WORRY ABOUT?

He worries he won't get into a good college. He worries about whether his parents are happy. He worries that his little sister, who has diabetes, won't feel good. The Kissimmee sixth-grader even worries that his Chihuahua, Melly, will get hit by a car.

What's surprising isn't that Juan worries so much -- it's that most kids his age do, too.

And not about the things many parents might suspect.

In a national survey of children 9 to 13, the No. 1 concern was the health of someone they love. A whopping 86 percent of kids said they worried about that either "a lot" or "almost all the time."

"At this age, kids become more aware of health problems that parents or grandparents may have," said D'Arcy Lyness, a child and adolescent psychologist and medical editor for KidsHealth.org, which released the findings this week. "And some kids experience the illness or death of a loved one."

Ashley Hammonds, a 12-year-old Winter Springs girl, for instance, began having bad dreams after her friend's mother was killed in a car accident.

"I don't worry about things a lot, really, but I do worry something bad will happen to my parents," Ashley said. "I have dreamt about it, but then I wake up and I'm so relieved it's not true."

But for Jesse Rumancik, 13, of Osceola County, worry is rooted in reality. Two of his grandparents have cancer. His grandmother is especially ill.

"I worry about them all the time," he says. "We're going to visit my grandmother to see if we can do anything about it."

Jesse at least shares his concerns with his parents -- something only 23 percent of the kids surveyed said they do. Twenty-five percent said they talk to a friend, and one in five kids said they just try to make things better on their own.

Some of the fodder for their worries stems from what they're learning in the classroom. The preteen years are often when students get their first in-depth lessons on the dangers of smoking, drinking alcohol, having an unhealthy diet and not wearing seat belts. Their awareness of the world around them expands.

"It's natural that as kids begin to learn about these behaviors that they may also begin to worry that these things will affect the people they love and rely on to keep them safe," Lyness said.

Consider Francarlos Correa, 12, who lives in Kissimmee. Tall, bright, confident, he isn't overly concerned about much, he said. But when he learned about the health impact of cigarette smoking, he started to worry about his dad.

"I keep telling him we could start a plan to get him off of that [smoking]," Francarlos said. "It's a bad habit."

The poll, conducted by researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, surveyed more than 1,100 kids across the country. It found the preteens more concerned with their futures -- and their grades -- than their looks or their friends.

"I worry I won't pass the fifth grade," said 10-year-old Cory Coleman, who excels in some subjects but struggles in others. "My mom says if I don't pass fifth grade, I can't go to sixth grade. And my dad says if I don't go to sixth grade, I won't get into college."

The Osceola County boy shares his concerns with his friends and cousins, he said, but his big brother is no help.

"These officers came to school and showed us all these films," said Kerstin Nguyen, 12, who also lives in Osceola County. "This one guy -- he came on and talked about how someone reached over a fence and grabbed him, and that really scared me. I worry about stuff like that a lot."

Watching the news, she said, only makes it worse. Just yesterday morning, she heard a report about a serial killer in Daytona Beach.

"That freaked me out," she said.

Her friend Khaysla Rodriguez, 12, nodded. "All you can think is that somebody will snatch you away," she said.

Parents might be tempted to worry about their kids worrying so much, but experts urge grown-ups to be empathetic and reassuring in dealing with their children's concerns.

"Parents can provide perspective as well as support," Lyness said. "It's easy for kids to misinterpret what they hear, so sometimes parents need to correct misconceptions."

On the other hand, some kids think their parents worry enough for the whole family.

"My mom is kind of overprotective," Francarlos said. "She's always telling me, 'Wash your hands -- there are germs,' or 'Tie your shoes so you don't trip,' or 'When you go to the beach, don't get a sunburn.' After a while, I just get used to it . . . so I don't really worry."